Tobacco Negotiations to Resume
After Massachusetts Walks Out

NEW YORK -- Settlement talks between the tobacco industry and a group of state attorneys general are to resume here later this week but with fewer participants at the table.

Massachusetts, one of nine states in talks with the industry, dropped out over the weekend, accusing the companies of intransigence. Meanwhile, two of the companies, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., dropped out last week, unable to agree with Philip Morris Cos. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. over how to keep smaller rivals...